Does Everybody Die ? written and illustrated by Shigeyuki Itami Tra n s l a t e d b y A n d re w D r i v e r
VANrai
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Written and illustrated by Shigeyuki Itami
Does Everybody Die
VANrai Publishing
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Does Everybody Die? by Shigeyuki Itami Translated by Andrew Driver Copyright Š 2010 Shigeyuki Itami All rights reserved VANrai Publishing
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When my grandpa died, my daddy cried. When my grandma from the country died, my mommy cried. “Did grandpa die because he was old?� I a s ke d .
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And my daddy said, “No. H e d i e d b e c a u s e h e w a s s i c k .”
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I didn’t cry when my grandpa died. I j u s t fe l t a b i t s a d .
B e c a u s e I ’d h e a r d t h a t people go to heaven when they die. S o I a s ke d m y d a d d y, “Is there a heaven? ”
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“ I d o n ’ t k n o w a b o u t t h a t ,” he said. Then my little brother said, “ M a y b e G r a n d p a ’s g o n e t o h e l l .” That made Daddy laugh.
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At n i g h t , m y b r o t h e r l o o k s u p a t t h e s t a r s and says, “ G r a n d p a ’s a s t a r n o w.”
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B u t I t h i n k h e ’s i n h e a v e n . Do people die when they ’re old? Do people die when they ’re a hundred? I don’t want to die.
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M y b r o t h e r a s ke d m y d a d d y i f h e ’d e v e r d i e d . Daddy laughed and said, “ N o , I h a v e n ’ t .” Hmm… S o t h e n m y b r o t h e r a s ke d i f h o u s e s d i e . And Daddy said, “Houses don’t die, b e c a u s e t h e y ’ r e n o t a l i v e .”
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“What about tiny tiny insects? D o t h e y d i e ? ” h e a s ke d . “ I n s e c t s d i e ,” s a i d D a d d y. What about stones, then?
“ S to n es d o n ’t d i e, b e ca u s e t h ey ’re n o t a l i ve ,” s a i d D a d d y. W h at a b o u t t h e e a r t h , t h e n ?
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“ The earth w i l l d i e o n e d a y. So I suppose the stones w i l l d i e o n e d a y t o o .” And what about space? “ S p a c e w i l l d i e o n e d a y t o o .”
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Hmm‌ I wonder if my brother understood? Even I didn’t really understand it. I just felt a bit sad.
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“Does everybody die?” m y b r o t h e r a s ke d . So my Daddy said, “ Ye s . E v e r y b o d y d i e s .” Really? “ R e a l l y.”
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Really really? “ R e a l l y r e a l l y.” Hmm… “ B u t a f t e r G r a n d p a , i t ’s G r a n d m a ’s t u r n . T h e n a f t e r t h a t , i t ’s D a d d y ’s t u r n , t h e n M o m m y ’s . Yo u t w o w o n ’ t d i e f o r a l o n g , l o n g , l o n g l o n g t i m e .”
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“Even till we’re a million?” my brother asked again.
“No one lives to a million!” Daddy laughed.
“ I d o n ’ t w a n t t o d i e ,” I s a i d .
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“ D o n ’ t w o r r y,” h e s a i d . “ Yo u r m o m m y a n d m e w e r e h e r e when you were born, weren’t we.
We ’ l l g o a h e a d and wait for you, s o y o u w o n ’ t b e l o n e l y. I p r o m i s e .”
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Hmm‌ My little brother listened and smiled, but did he really understand? Could it really be true? I d o n ’ t k n o w.
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I still don’t want to die. But if it’s really true, I thought it might just be OK after all.
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THE END
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Does Everybody Die?
written and illustrated by Shigeyuki Itami
200mm Ă— 200mm 26p / incl. front and back covers
Translated by Andrew Driver
Published May, 2010
Published by VANrai Publishing Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan Mail: info@itami.info
HP: http://itami.info
If you find pages missing or in the wrong order, please return the book to us. We will send a replacement at our own expense.
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